My Glory I Will Not Give to Another Text: Isaiah 48:1-11
Introduction: The Divine Ego
We live in an age that is allergic to glory, unless it is our own. Our therapeutic culture has taught us that the universe revolves around our feelings, our self-discovery, and our personal fulfillment. We have taken the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and domesticated Him, turning Him into a cosmic valet, a divine butler whose job is to fetch us our slippers and affirm our life choices. We want a God who exists for us. But the Bible presents us with a God who exists for Himself. And He is not ashamed to say so.
This passage in Isaiah is a bucket of ice water in the face of our man-centered piety. It is one of the most radically God-centered chapters in all of Scripture. It is an unapologetic declaration of divine egotism, and I use that word deliberately. If any man were to speak this way, we would call him a monstrous egomaniac. But when God speaks this way, it is not arrogance; it is simple reality. It is truth. For God to be anything other than God-centered would be for Him to be an idolater. For the ultimate reality to value something less than the ultimate reality would be a lie. God is the most glorious being in the universe, and He is therefore morally obligated to be most concerned with His own glory.
Here in Isaiah 48, God is speaking to a people who had perfected the art of external religion. They wore the jersey, they knew the team stats, but they had no love for the game. They were covenant people in name, but rebels in heart. And God confronts them not by appealing to their needs or their potential, but by declaring His own unshakeable purpose: the defense and display of His own name. He is going to save them, He is going to refine them, He is going to act, but not because they are so worthy. He is going to do it for His own sake. This is the bedrock of the universe. If we do not get this right, nothing else will be right.
The Text
"Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of Yahweh And bring to remembrance the God of Israel, But not in truth or in righteousness. For they call themselves after the holy city And are supported by the God of Israel; Yahweh of hosts is His name. I declared the former things long ago, And they went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to be heard. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. Because I know that you are stiff, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze, Therefore I declared them to you long ago, Before they happened I caused them to be heard by you, Lest you say, 'My idol has done them, And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.' You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I caused you to hear new things from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known. They are created now and not long ago; And before today you have not heard them, Lest you say, 'Behold, I knew them.' Indeed, you have not heard; indeed, you have not known. Indeed, even from long ago your ear has not been open Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a transgressor from the womb. For the sake of My name I delay My anger, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another."
(Isaiah 48:1-11 LSB)
The Indictment of Hollow Religion (vv. 1-2)
God begins with a summons and an accusation. He lays out their resume, their spiritual pedigree.
"Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of Yahweh And bring to remembrance the God of Israel, But not in truth or in righteousness. For they call themselves after the holy city And are supported by the God of Israel; Yahweh of hosts is His name." (Isaiah 48:1-2)
Notice the credentials. They are the house of Jacob, the chosen line. They are called by the name Israel, the name of covenant privilege. They are from the royal tribe of Judah. They perform the right religious actions: they "swear by the name of Yahweh" and "bring to remembrance the God of Israel." They identify with the right place, "the holy city," Jerusalem. They even lean on the right God, claiming to be "supported by the God of Israel." On paper, they are impeccable. They check all the boxes.
But God drives a spike right through the middle of this religious facade with five devastating words: "But not in truth or in righteousness." Their religion was a hollow shell. Their oaths were insincere. Their worship was a performance. They loved the status of being God's people, but they did not love God. They loved the idea of being supported by God, but they refused to submit to His authority. This is the very definition of taking the Lord's name in vain. It is not simply cussing. It is wearing the name of Christian, of Israel, like an empty badge.
This is a perennial temptation for the covenant community. It is the danger of what we might call cultural Christianity. We have the heritage, we have the buildings, we say the creed, we sing the songs. But is it in truth? Is it matched by righteousness? Or is it a convenient identity that we put on when it suits us? God is not impressed with our pedigree or our performances. He demands reality. He is Yahweh of hosts, the Lord of all the armies of heaven. He is not a mascot to be trifled with.
Divine Foreknowledge vs. Human Pride (vv. 3-5)
Next, God explains His method of dealing with such a people. He has a strategy to corner them with the truth and leave them with no excuse.
"I declared the former things long ago... Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. Because I know that you are stiff, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze, Therefore I declared them to you long ago... Lest you say, 'My idol has done them...'" (Isaiah 48:3-5)
God's primary weapon against human pride is prophecy. He tells the future before it happens. He announces His intentions, and then He brings them to pass. Why? He gives the reason with brutal honesty. It is because He knows exactly who they are. He diagnoses them as "stiff." Your neck is an "iron sinew," you are unbending and refuse to bow. Your forehead is "bronze," you are shameless in your rebellion.
This is a picture of total, pig-headed obstinacy. And because God knows this is our default setting, He designs His revelation to short-circuit our pride. He tells us what He is going to do in advance, so that when it happens, we cannot possibly take the credit. The whole point of predictive prophecy is to guard the glory of God. It is a divine stratagem to prevent us from saying, "My idol has done them," or "My political party did it," or "My clever financial planning did it."
God is jealous. He will not be cheated of His glory. He orchestrates history in such a way that His signature is written all over it. He calls the shots beforehand so that when the event occurs, everyone knows who is responsible. He is the author of the story, and He will not allow the characters to claim they wrote the book.
Willful Deafness (vv. 6-8)
God now challenges them with the evidence and exposes the root of their problem: a rebellious heart that refuses to hear.
"You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I caused you to hear new things from this time... Lest you say, 'Behold, I knew them.' Indeed, you have not heard; indeed, you have not known... Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a transgressor from the womb." (Isaiah 48:6-8)
The evidence is in. The prophecies were given, and they came to pass. "You have heard; look at all this." God calls them to the witness stand. "And you, will you not declare it?" Will you not admit the truth? But their silence is deafening. So God announces He is doing something new, revealing "hidden things." This is not just more of the same; it is a new phase of His plan, pointing toward the coming of Christ and the new covenant.
And again, He reveals His motive. He kept these things hidden "Lest you say, 'Behold, I knew them.'" He knows our tendency to feign wisdom, to pretend we were in on the plan all along. But then He goes deeper. The reason they haven't heard is because they can't hear. "Your ear has not been open." This is not a problem of information; it is a problem of disposition. They are spiritually deaf.
And this is not a recent development. He says, "I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a transgressor from the womb." This is the doctrine of original sin. This is total depravity. Our rebellion is not an unfortunate series of bad choices; it is our nature from birth. We are born rebels, born with our ears closed to God. This is why salvation must be a work of sovereign grace. A man who is a transgressor from the womb cannot fix himself.
For My Name's Sake (vv. 9-11)
This brings us to the climax of the passage. Given this intractable rebellion, why does God not simply destroy them? The answer is the central theme of the entire Bible.
"For the sake of My name I delay My anger, And for My praise I restrain it for you... Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another." (Isaiah 48:9-11)
God's mercy is not motivated by our worthiness, but by His own reputation. He delays His anger "For the sake of My name." He restrains His wrath "for My praise." His patience with sinners is a strategy to magnify His own glory. If He were to destroy His covenant people entirely, the pagan nations would mock and say that He was not able to save them. His name would be profaned. So, for the sake of His own public standing, He preserves a remnant.
He puts them through the "furnace of affliction." But notice the curious phrase: "I have refined you, but not as silver." When a silversmith refines silver, he does it to get the pure, valuable metal out. God is saying, "That's not what I am doing with you. If I were refining you to extract your inherent worth, I would find nothing." The furnace is not to reveal our value, but to purge our sin and to make us fit for His purposes, for His glory. The affliction is a gift, a severe mercy, designed to burn away our self-reliance.
And then the final, thunderous declaration, repeated for emphasis: "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act." Why does God do anything He does? For His own sake. The ultimate reason for creation, for redemption, for judgment, for everything, is the glory of God. He concludes with the non-negotiable axiom of the universe: "My glory I will not give to another."
This is the best news in the world. If our salvation depended on us, on our faithfulness, on our loveliness, we would be doomed. But it doesn't. It depends on God's unshakeable commitment to His own name. He saved us in Christ for His own sake. He sent His Son to die, not primarily because we were so wonderful, but because His glory demanded it. He vindicated His own righteousness at the cross. And because our salvation is grounded in His concern for His own glory, it is absolutely secure. He will never let His name be profaned by losing one of His own. He will get the glory, and in that, we find our eternal safety.